Iran told the UN's aviation agency on Wednesday that it would send black boxes from a downed Ukrainian jetliner to Paris for analysis, once countries involved in the investigation agree, two sources familiar with the matter said. The other countries involved are Ukraine, Canada and the US. Canada previously pressed Iran to send the black boxes to France for analysis. Iran has refused to hand over the flight recorders from the Ukraine International Airlines flight, which was shot down on Jan. 8 near Tehran by an Iranian surface-to-air missile, killing 176 people including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents. In March, Iran told the UN's aviation agency that it would send the black boxes to Ukraine. But on Wednesday, a representative from Iran told a virtual meeting of the agency's governing council that Tehran would now send the heavily damaged recorders to France's BEA air accident investigation agency. "Iran said they will send them to Paris soon subject to agreement of the states involved in the investigation," said one of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.<br/>
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Emirates laid off more pilots and cabin crew yesterday in the second day of redundancies at one of the world's biggest long-haul airlines, three company sources said. An Emirates spokesman declined to comment beyond the airline's statement Tuesday which said some employees had been laid off. No further details were provided. "Given the significant impact that the pandemic has had on our business, we simply cannot sustain excess resources and have to right-size our workforce in line with our reduced operations," the spokesman said Tuesday. The carrier laid off hundreds of pilots and cabin crew on Tuesday in a bid to stave off a cash crunch caused by the coronavirus pandemic. More redundancies were expected this week, including both Airbus A-380 and Boeing 777 pilots, the sources said Tuesday.<br/>
The administrators of Virgin Australia is asking the Morrison government for financial help, warning that a lack of taxpayer support is putting the sale of the stricken airline at risk. In a letter sent to senior ministers, including the prime minister, on Tuesday, the administrators, partners at accounting firm Deloitte, asked for measures to help Virgin Australia through both an immediate cash crisis and a longer period during which flying is expected to continue to be restricted. They said the sale of the airline was in the balance unless the government provided clarity and certainty about its financial future. Virgin Australia faces a cash crisis and is due to run out of cash by the end of the month, but any sale needs to be approved by creditors who could meet as late as August. With air travel likely to remain heavily restricted for months, it also faces difficult conditions even if administrators, led by Vaughan Strawbridge, can successfully sell the airline to one of the two remaining bidders, Bain Capital or Cyrus Capital Partners. To combat the immediate crisis, Strawbridge and his team have asked the government to guarantee tickets sold to date and for the remaining portion of their administration. This would give travellers confidence their tickets would be honoured if the airline was to collapse or new owners take over, sources said. The administrators also want to avoid what economists have dubbed the “cliff” that will occur if jobkeeper payments are turned off at the end of September as scheduled. They asked the government to extend jobkeeper coverage for Virgin Australia workers for an additional six months. Story lists other demans.<br/>
Airline Virgin Australia Holdings said Thursday it would double domestic capacity by early July as state border restrictions ease and demand grows, joining rival Qantas Airways in adding a significant number of flights. Virgin Australia entered voluntary administration in April owing nearly A$7b to creditors, but has been flying a limited government-supported network during the coronavirus pandemic. The airline said it would add 30,000 seats across 320 one-way flights per week to its schedule, boosting capacity to around 13% of normal from the current 6%. In a note issued on Thursday before Virgin Australia's statement, credit ratings agency Moody's said ongoing uncertainty related to Virgin could benefit Qantas.<br/>
China Express Airlines said Wednesday it had signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) to buy a total of 100 ARJ21 and C919 passenger aircraft for delivery from 2020. The Guizhou-based regional airline did not provide details of the number of each model it wanted to buy, but said the two sides needed to hammer out the contractual details later on, a corporate filing to the Shenzhen stock exchange showed. The planned purchases of the domestically-developed aircraft are a boost to state planemaker COMAC at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is devastating global travel demand. China Express and COMAC will also deepen cooperation on aircraft design and optimization, maintenance and services, and overseas market expansion, especially in countries that have signed up to China's Belt and Road Initiative and African markets, the carrier said.<br/>
Stobart Air is to resume its international flight schedule from July 14th, starting with its routes between Dublin and Edinburgh and Glasgow. But passengers will have to wear a face covering on board, will be encouraged to remain seated and inflight services will be suspended to limit interaction between cabin crew and passengers due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The airline, which operates the Aer Lingus Regional service, will also introduce new boarding procedures, and will implement enhanced deep cleaning and disinfecting of aircraft between flights. Flights from Dublin-Edinburgh and Dublin-Glasgow will facilitate essential travel, with further services resuming on a phased basis across August and September. Flights between Dublin and Aberdeen, Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Bradford and Manchester will resume from August 1st, as will routes between Cork and Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Edinburgh.<br/>